Storm of the Thief's Heart
by Dylan Millwood
Summary: Naruto knew better than most how cognition effected perception. So when he was sprung from Hōzuki Castle, he expected to be branded a criminal; just as those who sent him there were now betrayers in his eyes. Fortunately, he knew just who he could turn to. Unfortunately, Konoha wants him back...
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR NOTE: TWEAKING THE STORY BASED ON P5R WON THE POLL. 72% OF THE VOTES WENT TO IT.**

 **ALSO, TO CLEAR THIS UP FOR THOSE WHO ASKED ABOUT IT: NARUTO AND JOKER ARE THE SAME PERSON IN THIS, ONLY HE'S SIMILAR TO KASUMI/SUMIRE.**

* * *

Naruto sighed within the solitary confinement cell of Hōzuki Castle, a large castle in Kusagakure that served as a criminal containment facility that was also known as the Blood Prison.

What was he doing there?

Apparently, Naruto was wanted for attempting to assassinate the leader of Kumogakure, the Raikage, and killing jōnin from Kirigakure and Iwagakure.

However, as cliché as this sounded: he didn't do it!

Seriously, what reason would he have had to do those things if he was the culprit? Nobody questioned that!

The more that he thought about it, the more betrayed he felt. His "precious people" had turned on him. With no evidence to back it up other that the word of the worst knuckle-dragging hothead in all the Elemental Nations who thought two plus two equaled smash! Now he was stuck in this place!

Besides, nobody even considered the damned Akatsuki!

A group of S-rank criminals band together to form a terrorist organization, and nobody ever even **BOTHERED** to think of the fact that a group of such skilled, psychotic ninjas would have access to the E-rank classification Henge no Jutsu, and E-rank was used exclusively when classifying techniques intended for Academy Students!?

Why nobody could stop and think those bastards would lack either the means or motive to frame him and make it so he was trapped in one place with his chakra sealed away by a jutsu which prevented those subjected to it from molding chakra, using techniques, and also drained them of their chakra at a steady rate, while the formula set the victim on fire so they burnt alive if they tried using chakra...it was beyond him, especially considering the ones that turned their backs on him knew... _they knew_...the Akatsuki were after him! It was infuriating!

Taking a deep breath to calm himself so he didn't unintentionally draw on the fox's chakra and set off the seal and burn himself to death, the Uzumaki forced himself to rein in his emotions. Then reached into one of his back pockets while thanking that security within the prison was actually pretty poor: despite all prisoners being subject to strip and body cavity searches, Naruto had been able to conceal shuriken on himself, as well as this deck.

It was a custom deck. Seeing as a regular deck was fifty-one cards with a joker to them.

Joker...

Many card games omitted the card entirely; as a result, Jokers were often used as informal replacements for lost cards in a deck by simply noting the lost card's rank and suit on the joker. Other games, such as a 25-card variant of Euchre, make it one of the most important in the game.

Jokers were one of those funny things - many decks don't have jokers, and in most cases you can lose the jokers and it doesn't matter. So why include them? And where did any of the cards in a deck come from? Why are there 52 cards, with four suits and 13 cards to a suit?

The 52-card deck that we use today is a modification of part of the standard Tarot deck, made up of the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana, minus the knight cards. Probably around the 15th century, the deck started settling into the modern form we know today.

The joker, however, did not appear until sometime around the 1860s. At that time, the game of euchre was extremely popular (it was later unseated by bridge). In euchre, under the British rules, there is a card known as the Imperial Bower (or Best Bower) that trumps all others. Decks of cards began to include a special Imperial Bower card, and it later morphed into the joker card that we know today.

What made his custom deck odd was it was a fifty-two card deck, yet all of them were Jokers.

Looking at it, Naruto chuckled fondly. It brought up memories...a silver lining to a bad situation that happened when he'd learned the hard way ROOT agents had been tailing him on his training trip and had jumped him and forcibly rewrote his identity while the damned Old Perv had been out gallivanting with some prostitute or peeping on some poor hot spring in whatever village they happened to be staying in.

Come to think of it, was that alter ego they fashioned for him named Amamiya Ren or Kurusu Akira? He could never remember that detail straight. Well, whatever...either way, those events had helped Naruto learn more about the world around him, and himself, than he would have ever thought.

He sighed, eyeing the deck fondly. He'd made it as a memento, a reminder to himself of his time with a real team―no, real friends!―that he had gotten to know because of that. A way of knowing it wasn't just some dream.

A memento of his time among the Phantom Thieves, a rebellious group of outsiders looking to change the hearts of corrupt institutions while juggling high school on the side.

Well...jury was out on Goro Akechi...Akechi's Arcana was Justice, but his true personality matched that of the Reversed Justice Arcana. He was dishonest about his intentions, exhibited a black and white way of thinking, and unfairly manipulated rules and authority figures to achieve his goals.

Akechi was later revealed to be a traitor and working for Masayoshi Shido, a powerful political figure, and also Akechi's father from an illegitimate relationship. Similarly, Akechi's true persona, Loki, was often portrayed as a malevolent trickster in mythological lore; the Phantom Thieves' Personas were portrayed as anti-heroes, at worst.

However...On a deeper level, it also pointed to the injustices Akechi faced himself as a victim of his father's neglect, his mother's death, and being subjected to the mercy of corrupt foster care systems; these injustices led Akechi to lose faith in society. All the things he had ever done were just an attempt to make it so someone would see him as something good and want him around...

Naruto knew what that felt like. Akechi was a victim that was pushed past his limits. And to any that would deem him a monster...well, monsters were never born, they had to be created. If someone was only shown suffering by the world around them, then suffering would all they knew how to show in return. Rage like that needed a trigger, those feelings couldn't come from nowhere. Regardless of sinner or saint; it required a source.

In all honesty, it was easy for Naruto to say that Akechi was just like Garra used to be...a poor soul who was broken down, destroyed, and sent into madness by the sins of his father.

He sighed, putting the deck in his pocket. "...Part of me actually wants to thank Danzo, if he wasn't such scum...well...I wouldn't have met them." Leaning back in solitary cell and looking up at the ceiling, he remembered the words that had changed everything.

"I am thou, thou art I...Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice. Call upon my name, and release thy rage. Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself. Pillager of twilight―Arsene Lupin." He muttered, as he said the words, he reached up for his eyes, then stopped. "...I'm doing it again..." he lamented, knowing that the object on his face that he was thinking of wouldn't be there, no matter how many times he repeated the words.

He wondered how Lavenza was doing too... He blushed at the direction his thoughts were going.

Damn, he missed them! All of them! The Phantoms, Arsene, and Lavenza!

Pocketing the deck and scowling sourly, Naruto decided to work on his meditation...not like he had much better to do while in solitary. And it sure beat mulling over bad situations and wishing for the flecks of a false life to return to him.

As he sat down and assumed a lotus position, fists pressed together, eyes closed, he concentrated. And to his surprise...

Huh? This feeling...!

Hell~llo...! He could still gather and utilize senjutsu chakra?! This was interesting!

Then again, this damned Katon: Tenrō kinkojutsu was made to stop internal energy circulation. And senjutsu involved absorbing the energy from the surrounding natural environment and channeling it through one's own body.

As he sought to test the limits of the new-found fact that this seal wasn't designed to be used on those trained in the sage arts, while also keeping in mind to regulate the energy so as not to take in too much or it would petrify him after transforming him into a toad, he failed to notice a familiar bluish aura light up his solitary confinement cell until he felt the sensation of fabric envelop his head.

Reacting as anyone would and struggling, Naruto felt himself be dragged backwards and he heard the creak of a cell door's hinges before he vanished from Hōzuki Castle all together, leaving no trace of his presence there.

* * *

When he heard the door hinges swing again and the one dragging him let go, Naruto furiously ripped the bag off his head and looked around, more than ready to give any of the Hōzuki bozos a beating, but stopped upon seeing his surroundings were different.

While he was still obviously in a prison room, the room was circular, stone chamber that was a deep dark blue color and Naruto saw many jail cells around him, all of them empty. And the center of the room was a deep blue rug, adorned in the center of it by a large, capital V framed by a a laurel wreath, both of them golden in color.

Naruto's jaw dropped.

The Velvet room?!

What was he doing here again?!

Looking down at himself, his eyes widened in shock, then shined in sheer delight.

They'd changed! No longer was he clad in a slim, form fitting orange tracksuit outfit with black on the upper shoulders area and the color extending from around the neck and shoulders, down the front and sleeves, as well as around the waist, a white swirl on the left side, a red swirl crest on the back, orange pants, his feet were covered by black sandals that covered the instep and ankles, yet left his toes and heels exposed. Instead, his outfit consisted of a black ankle-length tailcoat, a high-necked waistcoat with gold accents, black jogger-style pants, brown-black winkle pickers, and a pair of red gloves. And over his face was a black and white, birdlike domino mask that he had sorely missed.

"Greetings once more, my Trickster." A soft voice said, catching his attention and his head snapped up so fast, Naruto was sure that he'd given himself whiplash.

Standing in front of the vacant spot where his cell's door should have been was a young girl with long platinum hair and golden eyes, and her attire seemed to be designed off of a French or Victorian era maid. She wore a blue dress, and stylish matching headband with white butterfly ornaments and yellow roses. She also had noticeably pink lips. Furthermore, she carried a book entitled "Le Grimoire," under one arm, though it seemed abnormally large.

Seeing her, Naruto grinned like a complete and utter loon, "Lavenza-chan!" then swept her up into a hug, "I missed you!" he laughed.

"...Were you not expecting me?" she asked, blushing a very deep red at the embrace.

"Depends—split or whole." The masked teen said, recalling how when Yaldabaoth replaced Igor, he tore Lavenza's soul into two incomplete, twin sisters, neither of whom had remembered he was not the real Igor.

The two had been a pair of twin young girls by the names of Caroline and Justine; with platinum blonde hair and yellow eyes. Both had worn a black eye patch with the letter "V" over one of their eyes (Caroline's left eye being exposed while Justine's visible eye was the right one) and blue prison guard outfits. Justine had a long braid and a hat with the letters "O-Y-O-O," while Caroline had hair buns and a hat with the letters "X-M-R-N." The letters appeared to spell "OXYMORON." They both wore a brassard on their left arm and matching black ties. Caroline used an electric shock baton to intimidate their inmate while Justine had carried around a clipboard.

The twins appeared as "Igor's" Velvet Room assistants and acted as the correctional officers to the identity ROOT had forged for Naruto.

They had been secretly (along with both unknowingly and unwillingly) working towards Naruto's downfall on "Igor's" orders, being tricked into believing him to be a villain, but quietly grew to doubt their mission; it had come to a head after Masayoshi Shido's defeat and the Phantoms' first, fruitless battle against the empowered Holy Grail, when "Igor" ordered them to subdue Naruto, finding they couldn't in good conscience keep on fighting. That had allowed Lavenza's personality to partially manifest in them and explain that Igor and Yaldabaoth were separate people, and that the twin's true purpose was to guide humanity rather than punish it.

After the two discovered what Yaldabaoth actually was, they had Naruto help with performed an essence fusion on themselves. When they merged as one, they regained their true appearance as Lavenza.

Caroline had a very classical tsundere attitude toward him. She tended to speak to Justine in a demeaning manner. Additionally, she didn't seem to hold Naruto in very high regard, as she referred to him as "inmate," and kicked him into the Velvet Room whenever he went to enter. She was generally ill-tempered and impatient, even after the twins grew to respect Naruto as a friend. There were certain inconsistencies between how she seemed and her real personality, and as according to Justine, she was mortified when she first witnessed Persona fusion and practiced intimidating poses to use on Naruto, but was too embarrassed to use them.

Justine, in contrast, had appeared to be calm and soft-spoken but still treated the person Naruto had been turned into as her prisoner. She had been the first to question what their true purpose was, and realize something was amiss with possessing an intricate bookmark but having no books to read. While guarding an entrance to the Velvet Room, she had whittled away at her boredom by spinning her clipboard.

Lavenza spoke relatively more maturely than the twins and still maintained the soft tone of Justine, but could be impatient at times like her Caroline half. Still...she freely admitted to having fallen in love with him for having been kind to her halves when both felt incomplete and lost.

Lavenza rolled her eyes, but didn't fault him that. Besides...sneaking up on someone, throwing a bag over their head, and dragging them off somewhere in order to meet with them...her "Caroline" half _would_ have done that!

He smiled at her, "You called me your Trickster...surprised you recognized me, given how different I look."

"You were a thief that entered into others' cognition and robbed them of either their corruptions or self-destructive urges and desires. And what good thief lacks more than one face or voice to ensure they avoid capture, my Trickster?" she responded plainly as if it were obvious.

The Uzumaki nodded, good point.

A loud clearing of the throat drew their attention and they looked to see who it was. Seeing a group of three that all bore similar features to Lavenza, Naruto frowned.

The first of them was an elegant lady that had platinum-blonde hair, pale skin and golden eyes. She was dressed entirely in dark blue with matching high heel shoes and uses black and golden accessories. Additionally, she carried around a blue book under her arm the way Lavenza did, but hers was much smaller.

The only male of the bunch wore a black-collared and long-sleeved shirt under a blue suit complemented with a blue necktie. He also wore black pants with blue lines running through the sides, black shoes, and a hat similar to a flight attendant or even a bell boy.

The final woman had a blue dress that resembled a stewardess' outfit with five black-lined circles outside small yellow circles, blue gloves, a blue attendant-like hat, black leggings and blue, knee-length boots.

"Who are you all?" Naruto asked with a raised brow.

With almost tangible levels of reluctance, Lavenza got out of her Trickster's embrace and stood next to him. Naruto frowning deeply as she winced, "Well...remember when you faced my split selves in an assessment test? One of my halves mentioned my sisters were going to get mad at me for loosing to a human...These are my siblings; Margaret, Elizabeth, and my brother Theodore..." she said, pointing them out

The now EX-ninja gawked at her. "Your family?!" Getting a nod in reply, he tenderly draped an arm over her shoulder and held her closer. "Well...guess they'll need to learn to deal with it if they have issues with me. I'm not leaving or letting you go over the opinions of others." he smiled at her and Lavenza had to fight to keep from snuggling into his side, no matter how comforting it would have been to do so.

"So, Lavenza, this is the one you meant when I heard you, as the Strength Arcana, lost to a mere human...how could you have fallen so low, little sister?"

"HEY!" Naruto shouted, getting in Margaret's face, "Back off! When we faced one another the first time, she was still ripped in two as Caroline and Justine from what that bastard control freak, Yaldabaoth, did to her! Each was only at half power and had their memory wiped! You can't blame her for that! She may be a Ruler of Power and represented by the "Strength" Arcana, but if she couldn't fight at full power because she was sabotaged by some god wannabe, how is that her fault?! And when she fought me and the others later with Igor's approval after getting put back together, we'd gotten strong enough to kill deity-class beings, anyway!" He stepped back and looked at her, frowning, "Besides...you're probably just jealous. An elevator attendant against a prison warden...no contest as to which needs to be stronger. As such, wouldn't surprise me if the real Igor made it so Lavenza-chan is more powerful than you."

"That is...I...seeing as she failed to halt the malevolent will from taking over, I very much doubt Master Igor shall disagree." Margret said stiffly.

The whiskered teen scoffed at that, "Oh, sure...mind telling me where the rest of you were, then?! If you're all servants to Igor, then where were the rest of you when he was beaten, imprisoned, and imitated?! At least Grail Boy had to directly effect Lavenza-chan since she was there when your guys' master needed you all! So if she failed Igor, then what do you call not even bring there to "fail" him at all?!"

Everyone watching the conversation gasped.

"...He just...told Margaret off...not a scrap of fear of her temper..." Theodore muttered faintly, wide eyed.

"Nice catch you got, sister; proud of you..." Elizabeth muttered, going up to and patting Lavenza on the back. Her younger sister stared, knowing it was no secret that Margaret had been highly concerned and disapproving about the relationship Elizabeth established with a human at one point. While they were all loyal to Igor, Margaret was the most career-minded workaholic among them.

Speaking of Margaret, she was left gaping as if she'd been slapped by the Trickster's words. Then after a moment to recompose herself, she looked down with her body shaking and spoke in a hollow, resigned tone, "Heh...I see...you're right on all accounts. She was unable to bring forth the full force of the arcana she represents before, and after, she was facing one she knew could surpass divine power, went into that fight expecting to possibly loose; and when our master needed us, the rest of us were nowhere to be found while Lavenza had to have such a brutal way of being kept from interfering with that imitation's goals because she held true to her duty and stood by our master's side, we are indeed guilty of that neglect." Looking up, the woman eyed him critically. "You're an odd one, Trickster, but I can see why our master placed his bets on the Fool..."

"I may be a fool, but that's because I prefer to think with my heart more than my head." Naruto said, arms crossing over his chest. Although he did know she was actually referring to what represented him among the Arcana in occult tarot: The Fool/Wild Card.

The Fool depicted a youth walking joyfully into the world. He is taking his first steps, and he is exuberant, joyful, excited. He carries nothing with him except a small sack, caring nothing for the possible dangers that lie in his path. All things considered, Naruto had to confess, recalling how he was, especially prior to his mission in Wave, it suited as an accurate depiction of himself.

"Personally, I'd advise you to fix that habit as soon as possible...but then, our master saw that as what was needed. Minds desire order, while hearts seek freedom. No wonder that self-declared "God of Control", Yaldabaoth, was defeated by someone with such a trait of thinking with one's heart about them..." Margaret mused, pursing her lips.

Lavenza smiled. Praise from someone like Margaret was hard to come by, and she was hard to convince of her own errors in judgment. Best of all was the warmth Lavenza felt blossom within her at her Trickster coming to her defense.

All of a sudden, a flash of blue lights swirled together and then the light turned into a portal and then from that portal a entire desk appeared. And sitting at the desk was a bizarre old man with a long nose, pointed ears and bulging, bloodshot eyes; dressed in a black suit with white gloves.

"Greetings, Master." The siblings all chimed in unison before they all bowed.

However, upon seeing him, Naruto tensed and whipped out a handgun; the Norinco Type 54 Tkachev he used as his starting weapon after he acquired his Persona Arsene, given to him by Ryuji when they had investigate Kamoshida's Palace with Morgana the first time, aiming at the newcomer.

At that, the attendants all gasped and tensed, some going so far as to prepare to summon Personas, "What are you doing threatening our master?!"

"Considering the last time I was pulled here, it was Yaldabaoth imitating him, how do I know this isn't another fake?" Naruto demanded.

"He isn't!" Lavenza cried, panicked over the situation. She couldn't go against her master, but the thought of turning on her Trickster was abhorrent! But with how tense this was, who could defuse things?!

As if in answer, a small figure zoomed into the room: an anthropomorphic and biped, predominantly black cat with a white muzzle, paws, and tail tip, a large head and large blue eyes, and a yellow bandana around his neck in addition to a utility belt. And in spite of being a cat, it lacked any visible cat whiskers and a cartoonishly round head.

It jumped up on the desk and stood between the weapon and the old man. "Don't you dare point a weapon at who made me, you...you...you cosplaying Joker-wannabe!" It cried, getting Naruto to stop dead.

"...Cosplay...wannabe...?!" The masked teen gawked, "Sheesh...I thought it was Ryuji you were a jerk to. But..." he holstered the firearm, "I trust Lavenza-chan, and I trust you, Morgana. You both say this Igor is the real deal, that's good enough for me." Naruto shrugged.

The long-nosed old man chuckled, not at all upset over having been staring down a gun barrel, "Peace, you all, peace. He has good reason to be mistrusting of my identity, after all, given events with the Grail."

The attendants of the Velvet Room all shared a glance and then nodded as the tention slowly lowered. Then Lavenza walked up next to the Uzumaki and stood there as if she belonged there at his side.

"Fine...can't deny that. Was part of the group that fought that distorted excuse of a god, after all. If he was just paranoid over if it was a faker causing trouble while posing as Master Igor, no way I can't understand that then..." then the catlike being glared at Naruto, "And how do you know who I am?" Morgana demanded.

"Know more than that, incarnation of hope...tell you about it over an all-you-can-eat shushi buffet, extra fatty tuna." The blond smiled at him.

As Morgana's eyes turned into stars and drool began to flow from his mouth like a fountain at the thought, Margret frowned and bopped the chibi-styled feline being on the head.

"Do not drool in the Velvet Room! It would require cleaning everything if the floor was covered in saliva from that!"

Seeing the way Margret was treating his friend, the whiskered teen frowned as he instantly decided he didn't like her. Turning back to Morgana "You ok?" he asked and got a nod in reply, "So, Morgana...how's Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir and Violet―or rather...Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, Haru, and Sumire?" The forsaken shinobi asked. He was wondering about his teammates.

"H...How do you know those names?! The Phantom Thieves...you know the true identities of their members?!"

Naruto smirked, "Tell you later, but would be easier if I was able to tell everyone at once rather than need to constantly repeat myself, so mind getting them together?"

The feline-like being eyed Naruto suspiciously, but nodded and hopped off the desk before going off.

Going back into his cell and sitting on the cot, Naruto smiled. It actually felt good to be back in the Cognitive World. And it'd feel great to get the team together again. All he had to do now was wait for Morgana and the others. Hearing the click of footsteps on stone, the masked teen looked up as someone walked into his cell. Not surprised when he saw it was Lavenza. Wordlessly, he moved over and pat next to him in clear invitation. Smiling as she sat down, the girl joined him and the pair waited with a comfortable silence between them.


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHOR NOTE: I've been PMed with this message in regards to this fact about the story:**

 **"Dude, the technicalities don't matter. For all intents and purposes, they look and act like CHILDREN. Spare me that 5000 year old dragon loli argument."**

 **While I _DO_ understand the concerns and reservations, does anyone actually KNOW how old the Velvet Room attendants actually are? Because it may stand to reason they're all as old as coherent thought itself. Furthermore, I looked up ALL of the Velvet Room Attendants, and found out they rarely actually leave the Velvet Room. That added onto how with them all being natives of the Cognitive World, they're more use to the oddities resulting from each individual person's perspectives and perceiving (an example in Persona 5 being the Kaneshiro level; the Palace is the entire Shibuya district transformed into a green atmosphere where the cognitions are the human ATM machines and the bank that acts as the main body of the Palace is floating in the air like a UFO and sucking up money), makes it so they're largely naive about the actual human world!**

 **All I'm asking if you _CHOOSE_ to read this story is that you please keep all of that in mind rather than flame and bash me**.

* * *

As Naruto awaited Morgana to return with the others and Igor and the other Velvet Room attendants went their own ways, he couldn't help looking around. "Surprised this place is still around. The whole thing about removing the core of Mementos, and all...I mean, you and Igor, the Velvet Room, all of it...I saw it all vanish!"

"Not really, but it did require...repair." his guide and attendant confessed.

The whiskered teen blinked, "Meaning?"

"You think forcefully merging worlds and realities wouldn't cause problems?" Lavenza snipped, sounding a bit sharp with her tone.

Naruto chuckled, "Want the stun baton back?" he teased, causing Lavenza to go pink, embarrassed. "But I get it...after the apocalyptic mess Yaldabaoth made, the Metaverse needed time to heal." he nodded.

"Yes...think of it as rebooting one of those computer things in the human world." Lavenza explained.

Naruto shrugged, he'd never been all that good with computers. That was Futaba's thing...then again, to be fair, he had to admit that with the physics-defiant things one could do with chakra, beyond living conveniences, there wasn't much need for technological advancement where he was originally from.

Lavenza nodded, pleased her trickster understood, then she frowned, seeing that something had him tense. "Is something the matter, Trickster?"

Naruto nodded, reluctantly. "A lot, actually...one being how getting broken out of Hōzuki Castle will just cement that I've branded a criminal...again, about being branded a criminal if you count everything that happened with and because of that teme, Shido Masayoshi..and I'll be hunted down for it, and the worst thing is, I was framed, but who'll listen to me if I try explaining?"

Lavenza frowned. So she'd made her Trickster's situation worse by getting him out of that prison, then? That was the opposite of her intentions. Still...she saw his point, "But unless they can go to the Cognitive World, there's no way the ones that would be after you can actually do anything."

Naruto nodded. He knew and was thankful for that.

"Something else bothering me is...well...I admit, I'm someone that developed into an atheist...spent a lot of time wondering why all things that are supposedly an omniscience, all-loving and merciful benevolence let my life be nothing but utter hell for no reason, or at least reasons that weren't even my fault. Eventually, I just got to a point where I...stopped. I didn't care for divine beings like gods, angels or demons anymore. Then that whole thing with the Grail, having to fight our way through angels, gaining the power of a demon lord like Satanael to champion freedom and chaos against the tyranny of Yaldabaoth's order..."

Lavenza smiled, "You can always count on the Cognitive World to shift view points. And you didn't really have much choice. Even when you got those angels to where you could speak to them and requested their power so you could repair the world, they denied you. It wasn't your fault."

Naruto eyed her wearily, "Yeah...now I'm worried that doing what needed to be done for the sake of saving the world from Being enslaved by an evil, self-proclaimed god won't come back to bite me..." He exhaled in a long-suffering sigh, staring at his hand and clenching and unclenching it into a fist, "But the truth is...I'm nervous mostly about my friends and teammates, though," he sighed, "how do I prove I'm the same person they knew? I'm nothing like how I was when I knew them from our time together before, you can tell that just by looking..."

Ah. Now that last one would indeed be a tricky thing to deal with. It bothered Lavenza that humans put so much stock into outer appearance, really it was utterly beyond her. Then again, to be fair, she was a native of the Cognitive World. She was more use to the oddities that arose from each individual person's mental processes of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses to develop their perspectives and perceiving of things.

That was her normal.

Still...she could understand her Trickster's point. How was he supposed to convince his fellows of who he was if nothing about him was...Hold on!

"That's not true." As the words reached Naruto, a hand closed around his in a soft squeeze of reassurance, "The face may be different, the voice may be different, but there's one thing that's the same. The most important thing―your heart." she smiled at him, "Your friends just need to have that aspect connect with them and the rest will come in time, my Trickster."

The Uzumaki sighed again, this time, one of being relieved. "...Thanks, Lavenza-chan..." he said with a smile.

She smiled lightly in return, leaning against him with a feel of contentment, satisfied with her efforts to alleviate her dear Trickster's worries as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close.

As the two started growing relaxed to the point where they felt their eyelids grow heavy and they nearly fell asleep, however...

"Sheesh...it's like a scene from a chick flick in here..." a new voice said, then a moment later, the voice let out a pronounced, loud "OW!"

"Don't spoil the moment!"

"Tactless."

"I must agree. Such a moment was worth preserving artistically, not ruining with a crass commentary."

"It was awfully sweet, too."

"Loud as always...least he could have done was keep his voice down if he was going to say anything."

Roused by the voices, Naruto perked up.

It was them! Oh man...just hearing their voices felt great! Especially with Konoha stabbing him in the back! Looking up, a grin lit his face.

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

First was the one who had Naruto's back when he'd been under that Akira/Ren (again, why the two names? Was ROOT just that inconstant and stupid?) identity from day one when he'd gotten to Shujin during his time on probation; and was his go-to wing man. Sakamoto Ryuji. Guy might have been Naruto's twin brother if you didn't know any better. He had short spiky dyed blond hair (although, according to their homeroom teacher at Shujin Academy, Miss. Kawakami, his hair was naturally black) and dark brown eyes. He had a noticeable widow's peak and his eyebrows were cut short so he lacked the outer sides of them. He was muscular seeing as he was an athlete, notably a track runner. His burglar outfit consisted of a matching black jacket and pants with knee pads, a red ascot, combat boots, a pair of yellow gloves, and a skull mask that had exaggerated canines and brow to make it appear more based on a monkey than a human.

Next to him was Morgana's love interest, Takamaki Ann. She had bright blue eyes and wavy platinum blonde hair styled in bushy pigtails, with parted side bangs on the right side of her face. She accessorized with a single yellow hair clip above her left ear, as well as small circular earrings on both ears. She was a relatively tall young woman. Her phantom thief outfit consisted of a skin-tight red latex catsuit with a cleavage cutout and zippers, a matching red panther mask, pink gloves, dark red thigh-high boots, and a clipped on tail on the back of her catsuit.

Then, there was the artist of the group, Kitagawa Yusuke; he had dark blue hair with parted bangs slightly covering his left eye and gray eyes. His build was noticeably taller and thinner than the others. His fellow Phantom Thieves often described him as a "pretty boy." His Phantom Thief outfit was a traditional kitsune-style half mask, a black high-collared puff-sleeved jumpsuit with a striped sash worn across his hips, white motorcycle boots and bright blue gloves. Attached to the jumpsuit was a white fox tail.

Next to him was Niijima Makoto, she had brown hair in a bob cut with blunt bangs and a French-braid styled headband that matches her hair color. Her eyes were a reddish-brown. She was of average female height, being slightly shorter than Ann. Her Metaverse outfit consisted of a two-toned, dark blue and black, skintight suit that was worn with a long black scarf, a dark gray corset-style leather breastplate, shoulder and knee pads with spikes mixed with boots that sported metal heels and toes, white gloves and an iron mask that left only her mouth and her lower jaw visible

Trailing behind everyone was the former shut-in hermit, Sakura Futaba; a young girl with hip length hair dyed bright orange with straight-cut bangs and two long strands in the front along with a single small, thin ahoge strand at the top. Her Metaverse costume consists of a skintight black bodysuit with fluorescent neon green glowing strips and matching black boots with neon green soles. Her mask is a pair of big black goggles with orange lenses. This outfit was inspired by sci-fi movies like that American one, Tron.

Finally, there was Okumura Haru. Haru had chin-length curly light auburn hair and brown eyes. She was of average height, being taller than Futaba, but shorter than Ann and Makoto. Her Thief outfit consisted of a dark purple cavalier hat with a feather plume tucked into a royal purple hatband, a long-sleeved pale pink blouse with a white neck jabot that was held there by a red gem pin, a black corset vest with gold buttons, bloomers that matched her hatband, black pantyhose, a holster belt carrying ammo and lace-up pumps. Her mask and gloves were black and violet, respectively.

"Wha-wha-WHEN did you all get here...?!" Lavenza sputtered, jumping up with a red face.

"Just as you reassured him about his heart." Haru admitted, at least having the decency of looking ashamed for overhearing an obviously personal moment. "That polite gentleman in the bellhop outfit who greeted us at the entrance did try stopping us, though...said "not yet"...can see why...our apologies..."

Lavenza sighed at that, her face cooling as she did, "Theo..." she murmured, shaking her head with affection. "Always the polite and kind soul...proud of calling him my older brother..."

Naruto blinked. Ok, he could learn to like Lavenza's brother if he was that kind of guy, he admitted that.

"Sheesh...you weren't kidding about him looking like Joker with that outfit." Ryuji frowned, even as he rubbed where he had gotten hit, most likely by Ann, Makoto, Haru, or even all three of them. "What's the deal with this Phan-boy?"

Naruto felt his brow twitch. Phan-boy?! Oh, even if he had expected something like thad and knowing that they would need proof, especially with them being a "fad" for a while, it was a low blow!

"Excuse me, but you're overlooking something: the fact everyone's clothes represent their UNIQUE view of a rebel, and what are the chances two people have the exact same image of what a rebel looks like?" Lavenza pointed out.

"While we were a fad for a while, the outfits we used were unknown while that was going on, and there's no way some random shmuck can just up and find their way into the Velvet Room; it's too special a place for that. Trust me on that, was born here, after all." Morgana pointed out; partly to remind his friends of things, partly to make Ryuji look stupid, and also because he didn't want Lavenza mad.

The others all nodded, seeing as they recalled being told how Igor created Morgana here prior to their final battle with the corrupted Holy Grail, it was logical the feline entity would know these things.

"So all we have to go on is trusting the word of some squirt kid who says this guy's our leader?" Skull asked.

"The thing about the Velvet Room attendants, nobody ever says how old they are, but safe guess is that they're as old as the ability to think itself." Morgana frowned.

"...So what? They're really a bunch of ol...YEOW!" Ryuji started to say, only for Naruto to get up, go over to him, and intentionally stomp on his foot. "Geez man, what the hell?!"

In response, Naruto wordlessly pointed at his Velvet Room attendant; a rather scary, haunted glare of her face and massive amounts of pale blue flames came off of her as the shadowed silhouette of Zaou-Gongen, one of, if not _the_ , strongest Persona belonging to the Strength Arcana looming behind her, it's eyes glowing gold.

Feeling the anger she radiated, Ryuji paled as he felt like an ant being compared to the moon. "...Uhhh...aheheheheh...shutting up now..." the skull-masked runner said faintly.

The flames, silhouette, and her anger all vanishing at that, Lavenza nodded.

"...Thanks man..." Ryuji muttered to the Uzumaki.

Naruto just smirked and nodded.

"You're such a bonehead, Ryuji." Morgana sighed. Honestly, getting the one who ruled over power as the Strength Arcana mad at him. There were safer ways to die...

"Nice one!" Naruto snickered, the others all looked at him. "Oh, come on! His mask and code name, and he gets called a bonehead?"

"Nyahahaha...not to mention the term can also be applied to someone who's stubborn, thick-skulled, or stupid; suits him perfectly, if I do say so myself! But then, what do you expect from someone like me." Morgana smirked.

"Zip it, tuna breath! At least I don't lick myself all over!" the former track team member snapped.

"HEY!" Morgana yelled.

Naruto rolled his eyes and looked to Makoto Thankfully the Student Council President of Shujin Academy was strangely eager to the silent suggestion and stepped over to the pair, picked up Morgana by the scruff of his neck, raised him to where the feline entity and Ryuji were at the same eye level, then abruptly slammed the pair's heads together.

"...Ahhhhh...that felt way better than it should have! Just knocking these two's heads together when they start fighting..." Makoto sighed.

"I get what you're saying, but if he really is who he says, why not prove it by just summoning Arsene?" Ann asked, her attention on Lavenza.

"Prior to your arrival, I was explaining to him how the Metaverse needed time to heal after that ordeal with the Holy Grail..think of it as rebooting. For the moment, the use of Personas is...inadvisable. And after you can use them, if you had gained a second awakening due to the power within you evolving, your personas will be back in their initial forms." Lavenza explained.

"Huh?" Ryuji asked, not understanding.

Everyone groaned.

"She means our Personas were reset and it isn't safe for us to use them yet, anyways, Ryuji." Naruto sighed.

"Ohhhh...why didn't she say that?"

Lavenza huffed, turning to Naruto while rolling her eyes, "And you worked with him? I have to agree with that false Trickster: How could you be so successful while having such an idiot as your partner?"

"Hey! I'm not stupid! Why is everybody always sayin' I am?!"

Ignoring Ryuji's indignation, Naruto frowned, "Lavenza-chan...what do you mean Akechi Goro was a fake?"

"The false Trickster, Akechi Goro, was given the power of the Wild Card not by my master, but by Yaldabaoth." Lavenza said, tone devoid of emotion and her expression one of sheer and utter loathing at the mention of Yaldabaoth.

Ok...that answered that. Naruto cringed at the bitter irony. Yaldabaoth was the one who granted Goro his powers, rather than by Old Man Igor; and the same false deity who did that was also who stroked Shido's own self-delusions of being Japan's savior and that he was the right hand of, or even an aspect of, Kami.

All when Goro's father was his arch-nemesis.

"So how do we prove if he's the genuine or merely an imitation?" Yusuke asked with a frown.

"Well...to quote Sherlock Homes, or rather, the British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who created him: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth". If he's telling the truth, then there will be things about your exploits only a member of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts would know." Lavenza pointed out.

"Hmmm...I can see why it makes sense." Makoto admitted thoughtfully. "If he can't summon Personas and has to prove he is who he says he is to us, a recollection of events would be the best, or even only, way to go about things, then. There are things about our exploits and us personally that only Joker would know..."

The other Phantom Thieves all nodded. Made sense with how they trusted their leader and he knew them so well because of it.

"Ok...so basically, we see if this guy knows stuff only Joker does about the Phantom Thieves, right? Only stuff we shared with Joker?" Ryuji asked. Everyone nodded. "Ok...I get that. So...how's this gonna go? Who talks first? Do you talk first? Do I talk first? What?" At the looks he was given by everyone else, he raised his hands up in front of him, "Hey, Joker is somebody I'm proud to call my best friend! I just wanna be absolutely sure!" He defended.

"A more than fair enough point." The young-looking warden stated. It pleased and relieved her that her Trickster had people like this to rely on.

"...Not much brains, but way more than enough heart to make up for it...that's Ryuji for you." Morgana muttered, shaking his head. But the attendant born of hope spoke with a smile. As much as he bickered with Sakamoto, the feline being respected that about his teammate.

"Ok...and for the record, sorry if anything I say brings up bad memories, guys." Naruto pointed out.

The others nodded. They understood that.

With a sigh, the Uzumaki turned to the fourth one of the original quartet from when the group started stripping the corruption from the hearts of others.

"Hey...how's Shiho doing? I mean, first job we ever had as Phantom Thieves was taking down Kamoshida; keywords were "Kamoshida", "school", and "pervert castle"...went there five times, first was on accident with Ryuji; awakened Arsen in order to prevent Kamoshida from killing Ryuji, after we escaped the cell we were in, we met Morganna who was also kept prisoner there and freed him, too. Second time was when we were looking for proof against the gym teacher but got caught; Morganna and I were about to be killed, that, along with the taunts and smug attitude from Kamoshida's shadow, was when Ryjui unlocked his persona, Captain Kidd.

It was after that when Kamoshida's abuse, molestation and the intense pressure to stay on the volleyball team led Shiho to jump off the school's roof, with everyone watching. However, she survived...thank whatever god saw to that...After that was when Ann first got into the Cognitive World. She was mistaken for that skimpy cognitive version of herself by the shadows. When Ann was captured in Kamoshida's Palace, bound to an X frame and almost executed by the subordinate shadows, she freed herself after awakening Carmen, first thing she did was steal a broadsword and kill Kamoshida's cognition of her and he took off running.

Then was securing our route to his treasure. Finally, the last time we went in his Palace, fought Kamoshida, and he turned into some giant, slobbering, lust-themed demon. His Treasure resembled a massive bejeweled crown, while in the real world, it was a gold medal he won in the Olympics."

Ann and Ryuji gawked. He even knew when and how they'd unlocked their personas for the first times?!

Shaking off her surprise, Ann looked at Naruto, "...Ok, I'll admit that's all true...but why are you asking about Shiho? If you are Joker, then you never got the chance to know her very well before." she asked. The mention of her friend's attempt at suicide bothering her.

"Shiho was one of the first people at Shujin Academy to treat me with an open mind and a friendly disposition, because she'd seen how cruel rumors can control a person's life before...never engaged in any of the rumors that were going around the campus about me because of that false criminal record I got slapped on me because of Shido, and also attempted to cheer me up and encouraged me not to let the nasty rumors circulating about my probation get to me." Naruto shrugged. "Genuinely kind and honest person. That's why you love your best friend so much; right, Ann." It wasn't a question, didn't need to be one either.

Ann nodded, even as she reach up to wipe her eyes as she started tearing up. That was Shiho, all right. "...She's doing ok. Nobody's been bothering her. And we've kept in touch."

Naruto smiled and nodded at the news.

"Say, Futaba..." Naruto waved her over, knowing that this was personal. As expected, the recluse was reluctant to go near him. After all, while she was open with the person he had been forced into becoming by Danzo's mindless drones, she didn't know that "Joker" and "Naruto" were the same person. Once she was close enough, Naruto leaned in and whispered to her as lowly as he could, "So...how are things between you, Sojiro, and that money-grubbing, jerk uncle of yours, Isshiki?"

Futaba jerked back in surprise. "Wha-?! How do you know...?! But the only ones who knew about that were me, dad, and..."

"...Your "key-item", as you liked calling me, I know." Naruto grinned impishly at Futaba, causing her mouth agape. She had an unhealthy over-reliance on Joker's presence to function when they were out and about. And mayyyybe she had the habit of referring to him as her 'key-item' but...she'd never told anyone else that! Or about how she and Joker had gone into Mementos to change her uncle's heart when he'd threatened to sue Sojiro after Isshiki had tripped over his own feet in Leblanc! She'd asked Joker to keep it secret because it was a personal, family issue! How did this guy know all of that?!

"So that's Ann, Ryuji, and Futaba...anything you have to say about me that could convince me of your serenity?" the fox-masked artist asked.

"Well...other than the true story of the "Sayuri"? It was originally made by your mother, Yusuke, with the woman depicted holding a baby. When Madarame acquired the painting, he painted over the baby to make the piece look more mysterious and to hide the connection from you. But while the original unblemished painting was lost forever in the real world, the true Sayuri was Madarame's Treasure. And you claimed it before leaving it at Leblanc."

Yusuke stiffened, eyes wide.

"Makoto...how's your road to becoming police commissioner going? You did say you wanted to head an organization that will destroy the lawless and help rescue victims. That was the justice you aimed for...and that it would be a good way to continue your father's legacy...how did Sae-san take it learning that, anyways? Told her yet?" Naruto asked.

The biker-dressed girl felt her jaw drop and she felt her body tremble at that, even as she nodded, "...Sis was proud...found it glad my work as a Phantom Thief actually helped aim my goals with how we brought evils that couldn't be judged by law to light..."

"Happy to hear that," he told her. Then turned to the last of his teammates.

"Haru...our initial meeting in your dad's Palace had an ominous air to it. You appeared before us standing up high in your thief suit, saying nothing and wearing a black mask. We initially wondered if you were the mysterious "Black Mask" abusing the Metaverse, but as soon as you started interacting with us, no one believed you to be that threat. Nevertheless, you tried to act appropriately adversarial to the rest of the Phantom Thieves during your brief stint as Morgana's sidekick while he was having a falling out with us. Flubbed your lines, had trouble remembering her own code name, and failed to intimidate...remember, "Beauty Thief"? After insulting us on Morgana's instructions, you declared that the time for "small talk" was over, prompting Ann to point out that you were the one who started it.

When we met you later in the real world, notably after a run-in with that creep you where in an arranged, political marriage with, you admitted that it may be a bit self-serving, your involvement with the Phantom Thieves of Hearts was to atone for your father's actions. But there was a more personal reason for you, as well. The actual reason you were doing it was so that you didn't have to get married with a fiancé you weren't particularly fond of was one of the reasons why you felt trapped by her father...Come to think of it, surprised you never to an ax to that Sugimura guy's head..."

"...To be completely honest, I did fantasize about that, just chop away at his head until there's nothing left but bloody mincemeat with scraps and shards of bone embedded in it." Haru admitted. "Still do, matter of fact..."

"...GEEZ...! Keep that psycho slasher ax-killer shit away from us...!" Ryuji shouted as the other Phantom Thieves relocated themselves to the other side of the room.

"Huh?" Haru asked, confused at her friends' reactions.

"...Bit too much info in regards to the ax and your ex, Haru..." Naruto pointed out, still next to her. Even as he said it, what bothered him was how he'd gotten too used to situations like that to feel bothered too much by her desire to kill someone. He had originally been brought up in environment that encouraged the concept of child solider programs back in Konoha, after all. He wasn't desensitized to things like that though...but the fact that Haru's admission that she had homicidal fantasies like that was something he could say he was in any degree use to, was in and of itself more than a bit worrying.

The Okumura winced. Oh...that, huh? "I'm really sorry! I just...you just...I really can't stand that guy at all!"

"We know...but still, you're free of the guy, right? No need to still want to chop someone up like that." the Uzumaki pointed out.

Haru nodded, feeling miserable. Her friends found her frightening now...and for good reason, too.

After that, the others all huddled and muttered among themselves, occasionally taking glances at Naruto as he sat with Lavenza, then resumed their conversation. Finally, the group of six broke up and approached him again.

"So...to be honest, not totally convinced just yet, but the only way you'd know stuff like that was if you really are Joker, huh?" Ryuji said. "I mean..."

"...Long story, guys..." Naruto said, instantly understanding what his best friend was trying to say. After all, it was one of the issues Lavenza-chan had helped him find an answer he could work with over, he did look completely different than last time he was here, after all.

"We have ample time, it seems, and would help us with learning of what is going on." Yusuke pointed out.

That was true enough. And he didn't want to lie to some of the people he had left, anyway. "Well...would you believe I'm in trouble again?" Naruto grinned sheepishly, and held his hands up in a 'what-can-you-do?' manner.

That alone made the other persona-users realize that this was going to take a while, and it sounded just like their leader, all right...

* * *

Tsunade yelled in outrage at the report she had just received about Naruto's mission, which she NEVER told him anything about and to make it even worse, EVERYBODY in the village was in on it BUT Naruto.

It was supposed to be a joint-nation, S-rank, deep undercover mission. All they had to do was get Naruto framed for some half-baked, made-up crime, send him to the Blood Prison island, and then he would deal with Kusagakure and their plans involving the Box of Ultimate Bliss, and they would then get him out of the prison. BUT NO! The stupid blond Uzumaki made a jailbreak, and thus fucked the mission, and them all, over!

"Oooh when I get my hands on that whiskered blond piece of shit..." Tsunade growled to herself until she saw a terrified-looking Shizune standing before her. "What Shizune!? I DON'T WANT TO BE BOTHERED RIGHT NOW!"

Not saying anything, Shizune just handed Tsunade a paper she had in her hands and ran out of the room as soon as Tsunade took it.

After seeing her apprentice flee from her, Tsunade knew she'd have to make it up to her, but what she heard about Naruto just made her so enraged it pushed everything aside.

However, when she laid her eyes on the notice, all traces of anger quickly died as she read that Naruto never bailed on the mission, but he had just simply...vanished without a trace from the prison's solitary. Instantly, her mind raced on what could have happened to the gaki, but the worst thing she feared was the thought of the Akatsuki taking him and he was defenseless thanks to those chakra draining seals the prison branded onto his body.

As that possibility struck her like a sledgehammer, the medical genius thought about the setup she forced upon Naruto, and the more she thought about it, she might as well have Naruto gift wrapped for the Akatsuki with a sign that said 'HERE'S THE KYUBBI, COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY HELPLESS, COME AND GET IT!'

"...What have I done...?" Tsunade began to cry into her hands for what she did to Naruto.

Meanwhile, after exiting the tower, Shizune sighed. Now to find the rest of the Naruto's friends, Kakashi and Yamato and inform them that the plan of stopping Kusagakure's agenda of using the Gokuraku no Hakō had gone horribly wrong.

It wasn't a conversation she was looking forward to at all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Quick Author Note: Need to know if and how I should modify this for when we learn more about "Persona 5: The Royal". What I want to know is if you guys think that's a good idea, so I made a poll. Be sure to vote.**

* * *

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted.

"I don't believe this! We didn't tell him about it, and he STILL manages to find some stupid way to mess it up when he's given an important mission?!" Sakura snapped.

"Shut up!" Hinata shrieked at the most useless kunoichi in Konoha.

"Why are you defending that traitor?!" The Haruno demanded, then she noticed the odd looks the others all gave her at her words."What?" She asked with a blink and Kakashi looked away first.

"Oh nothing, Sakura… nothing at all…" He said with a whistle and everyone else refused to meet her eyes. All of them thinking the same word in regards to Sakura: Hypocrite!

"Because he didn't abandon the mission, he just vanished." Shizune snapped.

"Say what?!" Shikamaru demanded.

"According to the insider reports we got from Kumo's agent in the prison, Naruto just vanished from solitary. Cell was locked from the outside, he couldn't use jutsu...he was just gone."

"So...what? Somebody else sprung him from lockup?" Kiba asked.

"...Or abducted him from it..." Neji said darkly, eyes narrowing as he crossed his arms. "We need to head to Hōzuki Castle."

At that, everyone nodded. They needed to know what happened.

* * *

"Whoa..." Ryuji gawked as Naruto finished telling them everything about his origins.

"So...you're from...?" Mokoto said. "How is that even possible?!"

"Well...Mementos is linked to the collective unconsciousness, after all. So if there were other worlds out there, it would be possible to use the Metaverse as a central hub to allow one to touch the minds of other in different realities, and go to them from there...at least in theory..." Morgana said.

At that, everyone turned to Futaba; seeing as how since her mother had been a cognitive researcher, she was regarded as the most knowledgeable on the cognitive world among the Phantom Thieves.

"Don't look at me! Mom's research never covered this!" Futaba yelped.

"Blows my mind..." Ann said.

"Joker, you are fortunate we are use to dealing with the Cognitive World, otherwise we would find your sanity in question." Yusuke pointed out.

"I know." Naruto sighed, "Trust me."

"Though I must inquire, and forgive me should this comes off as crass, but...if everything about you is so drastically different, than it begs the inquiry as to if your personality was as greatly altered as your physical features from the previous time you were here if you truly are whom you say, Joker." the artist continued.

Naruto sighed, "No, that aspect was genuine. For a long time, I had to mask my heart. Pretend to be someone I wasn't...was a lot like Goro, actually...put on this act of this happy-go-lucky dunce, hated it...I was always smiling and playing jokes and pulling pranks. I got labeled as the idiot and a troublemaker. Then I started making myself act subservient to others, made it so they had reasons to see me as useful...all of it was for the sake of getting by, feeling I had a place, and reason to live...It got to the point where I didn't even recognize the person behind the mask and was actually afraid of being that person again...must've been why it hurt so much taking it off the first time at Kamoshida's Palace, but damn it felt liberating."

The others winced, nodding. Made sense to them.

"So even if the face was different at the time, we still got to know the person behind the mask, the real Joker..." Mokoto said.

Naruto nodded, a grin tugging at the very corners of his lips. "Yeah. And the great thing was, I didn't have to worry about it. With you guys, all my old fears about needing to mask my heart to find a place to belong didn't matter...I found my place to belong with you guys."

Again, that was something the other Phantoms winced at. Needing to mask one's own heart to have somewhere to belong...still, they were glad their friend felt that way towards them.

"That's why the person we knew before, the way you were in both the physical and cognitive worlds, both when and after you first awakened your persona, was the genuine side of yourself...the part of yourself you almost forgot because you needed to mask your heart..." Haru said softly.

The Wild Card nodded.

"So...what's this place like, where you really come from," Ann asked, "I mean, what did they do to you? You don't just up and decide to abandon an entire world without reason."

Naruto's face hardened, "Don't want anything to do with that place."

Ann backed up, alarmed at the sheer hardness in his tone.

Naruto flinched, "Sorry, Ann...but if things there were that bad to where I feel I have to abandon an entire world, you think I want to talk about why?"

Wincing, the whip-user nodded. That was a valid point.

"I think I can help with that..." Igor said, spooking the others as he made himself known to Naruto, Lavenza and the Phantom Thieves. Then he snapped his fingers, causing an old fashioned movie projector that had a helmet attached to it by thick cables to appear, "I couldn't help but over hear all of you wanting to know more about our Trickster here; so, I figured this device can help you with that. All he has to do is let this device attach itself onto his head and think back to when all this had begun and it will then show us everything, like a movie."

Igor shrugged, "This is the Cognitive World, noting's as it seems. He needed to prove himself to you all about his identity first, otherwise, you would have thought it was merely a fabricated about who he said he was."

Naruto's friends and teammates looked to one another and nodded. Ok, that was true...anything could happen in the Cognitive World, so it was better to be sure about him being Joker before everything else.

Naruto took the device and looked at it, then looked towards Lavenza and then to the Phantom Thieves. He took a deep breath and sighed before putting to device upon his head.

Then Igor had Naruto sit on a vacant chair behind the others while facing a vacant wall and dimmed down the lights as the Phantom Thieves all sat down in front of Naruto to watch. Naruto then closed his eyes and began to think back to his earlier years, as Igor then flicked the switch on the device, then it projected a movie screen that counted down from three...two...one...

From the start they saw everything...the neglect and loathing...though they felt thankful to Iruka and the Ichraku for being kind...as the phantom thieves continued watching the memories, the males of the group felt anger, shock, horror and outrage as they watched; and the girls were openly crying from seeing how their friend had suffered so much when he didn't do anything wrong.

It had all started with how Minato Namikaze had wanted Naruto to be treated like a hero, but never said anything about keeping the fox a secret for the safety of the child.

Sarutobi (or someone the overly-trusting moron had as part of his inner circle) had spilled the secret, with the relic of a leader hoping that the ninja and civilians would see his point of view...they didn't. They called for his death immediately; however, Sarutobi turned it around and said it was a double S-ranked secret and whoever proclaimed it would be killed on the spot. Too bad, Sarutobi lacked the balls to actually go through with his threat because Naruto's life was shot to hell right after that.

Naruto suffered continuously, he was nearly killed, chased out of stores, given rotten food tripled the price, having to live on the streets and eat out of garbage until they refused to let him eat even that. He had to sneak around in the dead of night to eat, however, the Hokage gave him an apartment.

The place was constantly vandalized; covered in all sorts of graffiti, trash and bodily fluids and no matter how many times he cleaned it, some pissed off villagers would redo the damage thrice-fold and the civilians used it as a place to beat the shit out of him regularly.

So he stopped trying.

With that, he noticed the villagers stopped desecrating his building, bored with an easy target that apparently didn't even care about its own home. In their own twisted logic, the villagers figured it just made Naruto more of a demon, not caring about his home.

From there, a mask was created.

He ran around the village, pulling pranks galore, stupid smile, obliviousness, and suddenly they left him alone. Sure there were the few stragglers who felt they had to prove something, but that was easily taken care of with a _henge_ that showed false injuries.

When he went to the Hokage about it, the old man had only said he had taken care of it. And indeed, Naruto had twice as many ANBU guards... who did nothing when he was hurt, when he was chased or beaten.

He stopped _talking_ to the old man. He filled their conversations with mundane talks of pranks and ramen, neatly side-stepping intrusive questions about his personal life.

He had no friends, but that was okay. Friends only betrayed you in the end.

He had no family because according to the Matron in the orphanage, "Demons like you only have demons as parents. Thank God they're dead."

The young boy actually wanted to die at one point, but the Hokage saved him, thinking that it would lead to a bond, however, Naruto hated the old man, which Sarutobi thought of the nickname as childhood endearment, instead of malice. Every time Naruto talked to the old man about why the people hated him, he went off to give a speech about how he needed to forgive and forget.

But, the young Uzumaki never forgot, he never forgot the faces of the people who nearly killed him, tortured him, chased him out, he never forgot. He would keep remembering until he had the chance to grow stronger. He wasn't going to do it for them. He was going to do it for himself and to never be placed under their control.

For all Naruto knew about his own family, he might as well have been a test tube child, a botched attempt to genetically recreate the Yondaime Hokage after his death...guy was certainly beloved enough for people to go as far as grave-robbing and making imitations like that..."Project Ever-Light" Naruto called it, after all, the Yondaime's nickname was the "Kiiroi Senkō"...the "Yellow Flash", because his use of the Hiraishin no Jutsu causing him to appear and disappear in flashes of yellow light when he used it...and with a line of successive clones to make the man look seemingly immortal, a light that would never fade, it seemed to fit.

Depressing thing was, thinking of himself in that way had to qualify as Naruto's definition as a "happy thought" when he was growing up. If he was just a failed experiment and faulty clone produced by an experiment that was scrapped after the ones who pulled the strings saw how disappointing the results of the prototype were, that meant he hadn't been abandoned at birth for being a "hellspawn" as the people around him had always told him as an explanation as to why he was an orphan.

Not having any parents, other family, or otherwise guardian around when growing up had forced him to raise himself and gotten an over-developed sense of self-reliance in everything since day one because of that. And with that, he had to grow up pretty fast. Because of that, Naruto was a very strong man young with equally strong passions. He loved and hated with equal fervor and commitment. If you were precious to him, there was nothing he would not do for you. Likewise, if you were his enemy, he would never stop until he destroyed you.

What hardly anyone cared to learn, however, was that Naruto's personality was anything but the happy, carefree guy he always made people think he was on the inside.

Inside, Naruto was dark, depressed, and longing for anyone, anyone at all, to show him any small amount of human kindness. The part of his personality that contained hate was surprising small, and a large part of what made him who he was as a person was the urge to prove himself. His capacity for kindness and love was gigantic, and his patience was surprisingly large.

However, Uzumaki Naruto didn't consider himself to be a human.

After having been referred to as a "demon" or a "monster" by the villagers of Konohagakure since he was cognizant enough to understand. It should be no surprise to anyone that he would eventually believe himself to be something other than human. No matter how much the very notion of him being anything other than being human has been denied by the Sandaime Hokage. The damage had already been done, however, and Naruto himself had come to realize that they may be right. One man's opinion, even the Hokage's, couldn't outweigh the thoughts of the many.

Well, there was one thing the blond would agree with in the old man's protests of his personal views of his humanity.

He didn't believe he was a "demon", as the civilians had come to claim.

No true demon would ever take the amount of animosity or disrespect lying down, and not retaliate. Why the villagers didn't seem to realize that was beyond him, but it forced him to believe that humans (besides a certain few) were really stupid.

That or they didn't possess any sense of self-preservation whatsoever.

The villagers of Konohagakure in particular, were perfect examples of the lack of preservation. Otherwise they would watch their tones around the so-called "demon", which could have killed them outright at the amount of disrespect they showed him on a daily basis.

Seriously, was common sense and logic that scarce? The village had been standing for what? Twelve, thirteen years or so after the fox attack? If he really were the demon everyone in this place that had less than half a brain thought Naruto was...why hadn't he reduced this place to a crater full of blood-drenched rubble after over ten years?

But not only did the people older than Naruto despise him, but that they caused their kids' entire generation to hate Naruto just because their parents did-and for what? Saving the village and the lives of everyone in it just by being born in the first place?! Naruto never asked to carry the demon, yet he was shunned and hated for what he was by the villagers for stopping the Kyuubi. If it weren't for the kid, none of them would be here. This village seemed to forget that the only reason they were alive was because of Naruto. And people claimed that he was a demon in human form...HAH! If he was the Kyuubi, he would have killed them all by now!

The fact that they were still alive and the village was still standing were proof of Naruto's humanity, yet the people around him were too stupid to figure that out!

Still...they saw their friend and leader DID have good moments and memories there starting after Iruka had saved Naruto/Joker's life from Mizuki, Wave, and all the memories after were ups and downs (though Ryuji swore and everyone was utterly outraged with Sasuke)...But those good feelings came crashing down as they saw what happened before Lavenza rescued him in the memories of Hōzuki Castle.

As the memories stopped and Naruto removed the camera-like creature form his head, the Phantom Thieves gawked.

"...DUDE! WHAT THE HELL?! BULLSHIT! EFFIN' BULLSHIT!" Ryuji shouted at the top of his lungs.

"No...no way...that...how in god's name can they justify that...?!" Makoto demanded.

"See why I mean about my memories? And why I said the quiet guy you all knew was the real me...?" He asked, then went back into his cell and laid down on the prison cot, refusing to look at anyone; ashamed.

"Joker...?" Morganna asked.

Lavenza glared, "Leave him be. Having others see those parts of himself wasn't easy on him." she lightly chided.

"Look, I get what your saying, but like hell we're leaving him alone!" Ryuji declared, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"Our friend needs support with this. We cannot allow him to endure it in solitude." Yusuke snapped, following Ryuji's example

"For as long as he needs us, our place is here!" Futaba said, lowering herself as well.

"Our hearts are all resolved to this: we'll be here until doomsday if we have to, but we'll never abandon him." Makoto said, getting into the lotus sitting position.

"He was there whenever we needed help, now it's our turn to be there for him!" Haru defended her and the others' actions as she sat down herself.

"Not acting when I knew a friend was hurting was my sin once, and it nearly cost me more than I could ever get back; I'm not making that mistake again, especially with someone that's become as important to me as he has!" Ann said, joining her friends on the ground in their protest to leave.

Blinking, Lavenza looked into the resolved eyes of Naruto's fellows, then she smiled. "I see...true bonds that strengthen one's heart...no wonder you're all so important to him. Thank you all."

"So how was it this world he came from was able to connect with ours? Even with being a Trickster, he didn't have any way from there." Morganna asked, even as the humanoid cat sat on the floor with the rest of the thieves.

"Don't forget who chose him for that "game" of Wild Cards." Lavenza scowled. "Influencing those who were conditioned to remove all emotions and obey all orders unquestioningly was a simple task for that entity...there were those whom felt and thought such indolence was the ideal state for people there, and had turned people that way...perfect pawns once the collective unconsciousness had been used to reach into their minds and influence them to alter and send him here."

At that, the Phantoms all nodded. Easily recalling their last job: talking down a malevolent will that called itself a god and forced others into everlasting servitude; stopping it's plan to attain eternal peace by filling reality with those who stopped thinking for themselves.

"I see..." Morganna frowned.

Meanwhile, as Lavenza looked the ones her Trickster was close to, her own mind was at work. So...there was a point in her Trickster's life where he doubted he was human, huh? Lavenza felt part of her could relate to that. While she, her siblings and their master all looked human, as residents of the Velvet Room, they were actually beings born of the collective unconscious. Still...what he'd had to endure made her angry. Heartless bastards...that Konoha place didn't deserve him! Never did!

Least of all, that abusive bitch, Sakura Haruno! All she ever did was abuse and belittle him for little to no reason! And another thing that had Laverza angry was how Naruto had asked out Sakura so much!

But then, it made the actions of the other Phantom Thieves all the more endearing. No wonder he obtained the World Arcana after his time with them. While there are many positive connotations to the card itself, the common theme of the World Arcana was one of satisfaction, because of having achieved goals which are important. The primary meaning the card reflects is completion or fulfillment of an important task. It symbolizes the culmination of efforts where there is an ending and perhaps the start of a new beginning. The World card also tells to hang in there and not to waver, for a positive end is near.

It was no mystery as to why her Trickster had found a place to belong among such people. As one whom cared for him, Lavenza found it was good in heart and soul that the likes of the Phantom Thieves members were there for him. When she thanked them, she meant it.

Thinking on everything she'd seen of her his memories of Konoha, Lavenza's mind went back to what represented her Trickster among the Arcana in occult tarot, and what her sister had said about Lavenza's Trickster: The Fool/Wild Card.

The Fool depicted a youth walking joyfully into the world. He is taking his first steps, and he is exuberant, joyful, excited. He carries nothing with him except a small sack, caring nothing for the possible dangers that lie in his path. Upright, the Fool represented Beginnings, innocence, spontaneity, and a free spirit; while the Reversed Fool stood for holding back, recklessness, and risk-taking.

Truly, it stood for him perfectly.

"If you follow me, I can send you back to the physical world...after m-I mean, Joker...finds his feet again." Lavenza said. She hoped no one noticed she had nearly called Naruto/Joker...whichever identity he so chose to go by, hers.

The other Phantom Thieves nodded. That was reasonable to them.

"Thank you for helping Joker...from all of us." Makoto said.

Igor smiled at the fellowship between them all. Truly, humans were amazing beings... "No need. After what you all accomplished, it was the least we could do. The doors of the Velvet Room are open to you all whenever you need it."

"Thank you." Haru told him.

One thing was for certain: their leader would certainly be going back with them. Being able to start a new life in a place where he was treated like a normal person was far too good an opportunity to pass up. And the rest of the Phantom Thieves were going to make sure he took it. First thing was first, however: getting him back on his feet. No question having to remember all that so the projector could show them had been rough on his heart.

Lavenza went into his cell and rubbed him on the back. Her poor Trickster...sharing a glance with the other Phantom Thieves, they came to a wordless agreement. Had to help him recover his spark.

"Is it wrong part of me wants to level that Leaf place?" Ryuji open asked, scowling. "The assholes messed with my best friend. Doesn't feel right not getting payback."

"Leave it." Lavenza said, "That would mean going back there."

Everyone winced, realizing that would mean sending him back to that hellhole. They didn't want that. At all.

"...Fine." Ryuji said, "But if I ever see that Sasuke prick...!"

Everyone nodded grimly, it was something they felt the same on, after all.

"Well..." Ann asked, "anything we can do to help you, then, Joker?"

Naruto jerked a small bit, surprised. Both at them calling him that, and being addressed directly. He smirked, despite himself and sat up.

"Just having you guys here for me helps...thanks, guys." he admitted.

"It is strange seeing you so down, especially since it seems you have little reason to be. Even a deity-level opposition wasn't enough to shake your resolve, after all." Yusuke pointed out. "You have been in these positions before, after all."

"Falsely accused and arrested...world as an enemy..." Makoto listed off.

"Ok, ok...I get it, guys..." Naruto laughed. It was hard to stay down with these guys watching his back. Which was just what he needed. Standing, he made his way out of the cell. The Uzumaki took a deep breath through his nose, releasing it the same way.

Looking at his friends, Naruto couldn't help shaking his head, grinning. They really were something else, something special, the Phantom Thieves...

"You ready to go?" He asked.

Everyone brightened. "Now there's the Joker we know and love!" Ann cheered as they stood.

"Well yeah...past sucked, but with you guys having my back and supporting me, no need to let what's done and over get me down." Naruto admitted.

Lavenza smiled, "This way then, please."

Naruto walked over to her and presented his arm, which the young-looking attendant was pleased to slip her arm through and then she lead them to the way out. Exiting the Velvet Room, Naruto beamed, recognizing he and the others were in front of a small place with an awning over the door, the banner was red and white with the words, "Coffee & Curry Leblanc Cafe" on it.

Releasing his arm from his attendant's, he went inside Leblanc; it looked like a bar, as there were three tables with two big seats big enough for two people to sit together on the opposite sides of the three tables. Across from the tables, there was a bar keeper's table with a row of chairs in front of it, a television set on showing the news, all and all it looked like a nice place to go relax at.

Looking around, Naruto took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar sent of fresh coffee beans and the spices used in curry, and sighed with a smile.

It felt good to be back home.


End file.
